


The First Guardian Of Children

by Hopeful_Puppy



Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Bending (Avatar), Gen, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, One Shot, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-23
Updated: 2013-05-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22898665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeful_Puppy/pseuds/Hopeful_Puppy
Summary: "Protect the children," he whispered. In the winter of 1756, a boy named Jonathan Rime died. The day Jack Frost was reborn; I gifted him with partial control over the wind. To spite the moon for all he had done. It would be many more years before I forgave him.
Kudos: 2





	The First Guardian Of Children

* * *

I remember the darkness. The endless colour of black that filled my vision. I don’t recall how long I spent in my personal black dimension. It could’ve been days, months, years or it could’ve been mere minutes. All I know is this; the feeling of fear never came to me while I stayed in my cocoon of darkness. I never once thought to be afraid of the infinite colour that surrounded me. That is just the beginning in the very long list of differences between the other guardians and I.

When the moon called to me from beyond my shadowed space, I’ll admit, I was curious. However, I did not feel the need to go from one purposeless existence to another. The moon called to me from a world that was familiar but I was hesitant to return to it for reasons I didn’t realise until many years later. When the moon called to me, I did not remember who I once was or how I came to be, but I was content to float in my black hole, in a haze of placid and calm.

I told the moon how I felt. I told him I would not follow him unless he gave me a purpose.

“Protect the children” he whispered.

It was a purpose. It was vague. The moon didn’t give me a reason and he most certainly didn’t give me any direction as to how I should protect the children. But it was a purpose. One, I was sure, I would be happy to fulfil. So, I followed the moon back to the world of the living. (Not that I realised this point of information at the time.)

My entrance into the light of the world is not an experience I would wish on anyone. It was long and it was gruelling and it was painful. I clawed my way up from beneath the rocky bed of a river. I was pulled up to the surface of the river by the moon but I struggled to get there quicker as my body burned from the inside out.

Relief did not come until I was suspended in the air by the wind. Glowing embers and dusty ash circled me, as I gathered my bearings above the water. When I finally remembered how to breathe, gulping great lungfuls of air in sweet agony, the tiny particles that danced around me melded into my body as if they belonged there.

By the time I had fully embraced the moon’s light, I wanted nothing more than to return to my dark hideaway and sleep for the rest of my existence.

It was a long time before I had the energy to do anything more than just breathe. I felt helpless and vulnerable and I knew there were fat, silver tears making streams down my cheeks. All the while, the wind held me gently, playing with my hair and whispering comforting words in my ears. The moon watched me recover, his glowing light slowly reviving my tired mentality, as I gazed at him.

Still recovering, I didn’t realise the wind had placed me on the water’s surface; until I let my head drop from the face of the glowing moon. My attention was quickly drawn from my miraculous buoyancy to a staff that floated on the water in front of me.

A feeling of awe consumed me, as I examined the beautiful piece of craft I had been gifted with. The dulled metal staff was longer than I was in height. Decorated with shinning silver designs of fire beside swirls of water and cloud surrounding delicate leaves and intricate snowflakes, I fell in love with the staff that fitted comfortably in my hand.

“All is not what it seems,” the wind giggled.

Curious, I examined the staff more intimately. A casual brush of my fingertips over the top of the staff revealed the mechanism within. Large cloth-covered wings burst out from the hollow of the staff with a fan-like tail popping from the end. The delicate cloth that was pulled over the strong but thin metal bars was also designed with the intricate swirls seen on the metal. It looked like a very big and unusual kite. I was suddenly filled with a sense of déja vú before my mind supplied me with the word ‘glider’. I may not have known how it worked, but I had seen one of these gliders before.

The wind gave a firm tug on the glider’s wings and I tightened my grip on the metal bar. In a gust of air, I was lifted off the surface of the water, clinging to the glider like it was my lifeline. After a few awkward twirls in the air, the wind placed me back on the water’s surface gently. My legs gave out beneath me and I fell to my knees. Clutching my staff in a daze I gave a little shiver before giggling dizzily. The glider could hold my weight.

I was going to have so much fun.

* * *

Many long and lonely years passed before I saw another spirit. It was even longer before I began to see the development of human civilisation. Protecting the children had been harder to do than I thought it would be, considering for the first couple of years I couldn’t find any children to protect. Well, human children anyway, I still cared for any and all orphaned animal young I could find. I watched the human race evolve and grow, much like the children I was sent to protect. I watched the rise of kingdoms and the fall of empires. I watched as a young warlock became myth, a young French girl created miracles and a little German boy perfected the art of war.

Through all the years that I had watched, waited and protected, I began to realise, that while this world may have been familiar, it was not the world I had come from. I was older than this world. It was the same earth; the moon assured me of that, but my people, my race had long since died.

Negative emotions ripped through my being, loneliness and anger being most prominent. I was angry at the moon for reviving me in a world, and in a time that was not my own. This realisation came early on in my rejuvenated life and, in the emotional mess that made my conscious state I redesigned the entire world.

I levelled mountains, erupted volcanoes, sunk land beneath the sea, carved mighty canyons into the earth and froze two entire oceans. When I look at a modern map, even in the 21st Century I feel pain from the memory of the emotions I felt, before a surge of pride in my ability and power washes away the pain.

Sometimes I would be haunted by phantom feelings, mostly negative. I would create storms to help vent my frustrations. I would spread this venting out over land and time so no two places in the world had to suffer at the same time. It didn’t always work but I always remembered my purpose. Protect the children.

After a particularly nasty temper tantrum in the 1740’s, I began to understand that protecting the children just wasn’t good enough anymore. The Sandman, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus all protected the children and made them happy with gifts of dreams and chocolate and coins. But the children needed more than that. They needed a friend, someone to play with. The Guardians were too busy preparing gifts for the children, to play _with_ the children. The other spirits were fickle creatures that would rather play with each other than with the children of the world. They didn’t like humans, which is something I always found funny. They were quick to forget that, who they once were as humans, created who they are now as spirits. As humorous as I found these backward spirits, they did not solve the problem. So I presented my thoughts to the moon and, barely even ten years later, the moon found a solution.

In the winter of 1756, a boy named Jonathan Rime died saving his sister from falling through thin ice on a lake near their home. On New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight, Jack Frost was brought back to life to become the Spirit of Fun.

The day Jonathan Rime died, I found a lot of reasons to be angry. First and foremost, I was angry at the winter spirit who had frozen the lake. I ruthlessly striped him of his elemental powers, not only for endangering the lives of children, but also for not doing his duty in the middle of his season. I then turned my attention to the moon.

I ranted and raved and screamed and cried at the moon for cutting short the life of a child I favoured. For taking him from his sister and his family. For planning to tell him his name and nothing more. For planning to leave him alone.

The day Jack Frost was reborn; I gifted him with partial control over the wind. He would never create the gales or tornadoes that I could but he would manage a strong blizzard if he got overly emotional. I did this for two reasons. One was to spite the moon for all he had done. It would be many more years before I forgave him. The second reason was to welcome Jack into his new life. To show him that someone cared, even if he, like all the other spirits couldn’t see me.

It’s a funny thing, being Mother Nature. The animals of the world see me without a problem and welcome me freely into their habitats, but the humans and spirits are a different story. They believe in an omniscient, goddess-like woman, who will show her vindictiveness just as quickly as she will show her kindness. They believe in an all-knowing being.

They don’t believe in me.

My name is Themis Everlong. That is what the moon told me, among other things. Things like, one day when the time is right, the other Guardians will see me. The moon has promised me this. When that day comes, I will gladly accept the title of 'The First Guardian of Children'.

* * *


End file.
